Designing assessment tasks to promote long term learning can be one of the most creative and satisfying aspects of teaching in higher education.
Students need to be actively engaged throughout assessment. Students full participation as active agents in assessment needs to be planned and carefully staged. They need to see the value of what they are doing and can persuade themselves of its importance to their learning.
The issue is not what the assessment method is, but rather what are the learning consequences of using it in a particular way.
This section aims to prompt consideration of some matters that might be overlooked in designing and redesigning assessment tasks. We will look at the following:
- Considerations
- Preparing tasks
- Assessment as a process
- Convincing students
- Grading and exams
- Convincing staff and managers
- Start early
- Issues for students
- Reviewing assessment tasks
- Using feedback
Checklists
- Checklist for institutions
- Checklist for those involved with programs and courses
- Checklist for those involved with units/subjects/modules
For additional principles of good assessment design, see
Re-Engineering Assessment Practices in Scottish Higher Education